Keep Away From This Girl
by AusllyxxRauraForever
Summary: Austin's girlfriend, Hannah Jordan, hates Ally so Hannah's forbidden Austin to write songs with her anymore. Will Austin realize he loves Ally or will he drop her like she's nothing for his "beloved" girlfriend?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Austin. Wanna go grab a bite to eat?" Ally asks me when her break starts. "Do I wanna go grab a bite of who?" I ask.

You can thank my girlfriend for my dirty mind. I used to be a clean guy. But if I wanted to keep my girlfriend, Hannah Jordan, I had to change. But I try to act like my old self for Ally. I don't know why. I just feel like I should.

"Oh, speaking of Hannah—" "I didn't say anything about Hannah." I continue as if she hadn't said anything. "She said... Ally this is really hard for me to say but..." I gulp. "She said we can't be partners anymore."

She slams the bowl of guitar picks back down on the counter. "She what?" she yells angrily. She looks around and notices customers staring at her. "Ally, take your angry rant upstairs," Mr. Dawson tells her.

She walks over to me, grabs my hand and drags me up the stairs. She closes the practice room door. "Now, what did this skank tell you?" she asks me.

"Ally, watch your mouth. This is my girlfriend you're talking about! Where did you even learn that word?" I ask. She can use some bad language when she's angry. "Trish," she tells me. "Now what did she say?" she asks still angry.

"That we can't be partners anymore," I say flinching and covering my head. "Please don't hit me!" She can be pretty scary when she's angry. "Oh, I'm not going to hit you," she says softly walking quickly to the door. "I'm going to hit her!" I run to her and grab her forearm.

"No, no, no, no. Don't do that. Why do you care anyway? You're the one who didn't want to be partners in the first place when I stole your song!" I yell. "Yes but now that we are partners, I... I hate to admit it, but I like being partners," she says. We're silent for a moment.

"Look, I'll talk to Hannah. It'll be easier for me to do it," I tell her. I take out my phone. "You're going to call her?" she asks. "Yeah, I'm going to invite her over," I tell her unlocking my iPhone. "Um, no you're not," she says. "And why not?" I ask her. "Because this is my store and I can kick you two out in the blink of an eye," she explains to me.

"Come on, Ally. I want to do it in the comfort of my practice room," I tell her. "My practice room," she corrects me. "Our practice room," I correct her. "It won't be for long," she mutters.

"Hey, I'll make her see reason." "You can't make her see anything except your-" "Ally," I cut her off. "That was your fault that you walked in on us. Ever heard of knocking on a door before you walk in?" She shudders at the memory.

I walk out of the room to call Hannah but I stick my head back in. "Tell me, Ally, honestly... did you like it?" I ask her winking. She lets out a sound of disgust. "You wish."

I close the door and call Hannah. "What?" she answers her phone. "Babe, come to Sonic Boom. I need to talk to you," I tell her. "On my way."

I walk back into the practice room. "She's coming." "And I'm leaving," she says. "Oh, no you're not. You're staying," I say turning her around and sitting her down on the piano bench. "But why? She's your skank and she's not even my friend," she said.

"Ally, I don't call your boyfriends... uh... man whores?" I say questioningly. "That's because I've never had a boyfriend," she says quietly. "Oh yeah..."

I feel my phone vibrate. "Where the heck r u? Im waiting." Hannah. "Practice room, upstairs."

A few minutes later, Hannah walks in. "Ever heard of knocking?" Ally asks. "Speak for yourself, skank," Hannah answers.

"Yes, I'm the skank," Ally says. "Hey, hey. Neither of you are skanks," I say. "Out," Hannah says. "Um, this is my store," Ally says. "Fine. Then we'll leave," Hannah says taking my hand.

"Actually, I wanted to talk here. So you can see why Ally and I need to stay partners," I tell her slipping out of her grasp.

"What?" Ally asks. "You never told me that." I didn't think you'd stay if I told you," I say to her shrugging.

She sighs angrily. "Okay, Ally. Let's show Hannah that there's no Austin without Ally," he says. "No because that sounds like we're together. Let's just show her that we need each other for... No, that doesn't sound good either. Let's just do it."

Heh, do it **(1)**. We start playing Better Together.

"Cut the crap, I know the stupid song," Hannah interrupts. We stop playing abruptly. "Ally can still write songs for herself and we can get you a professional songwriter," Hannah tells me. "Ally is a professional," I say quietly.

"Excuse me?" she asks. "Nothing." "That's what I thought. See you later then," she says. "Wait!" I exclaim. "What?" she asks turning around. I think about demanding to let me stay Ally's partner. "Give me a kiss."

Her face breaks into a cocky smile. She leans down and gives me a French kiss. I hear Ally let out another sound of disgust. She leaves and I turn to Ally.

She turns away, though. "What?" I ask. "You're the one who wanted this, weren't you?" she asks quietly. "What? Of course not!" I yell. "You wanted an excuse for a new songwriter. One that will go onstage with you and not get mad when you don't show up for practice.

"Just hire a new songwriter. Because I'm done being yours. If you didn't appreciate my work, why didn't you just tell me?" she asks. She leaves without waiting for my answer. That's it.

She drove away my best friend. I have to break up with her. I have to break up with Hannah.

I walk downstairs and see Mr. Dawson working. "Where's Ally?" I ask. "She went home," he tells me. I swear under my breath. I run to her house and knock on the door. No answer. She must be in her room. I walk inside and up to her room. I knock on that door, too.

No answer again but I do hear soft sobbing. I open the door and see Ally curled up in a perfect ball. "Go away, Austin. Get out of my house. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to you," she yells at me without looking up. "I haven't even said anything yet," I say to her. She throws her pillow at me.

I easily dodge it and say, "I haven't even said anything yet." "Too bad. Get out." "Fine, but just to let you know, I'm breaking up with Hannah just for you and you're kicking me out. That's a nice way to treat me."

She sits up to say something and I leave.

**Um, I hope you liked my new story? It took a while for me to write it and I'm really hopeful about it. Review and tell me what you like and what you don't like. Tell me what you think I should fix and what you think I should keep doing. Feel free to give me suggestions and feel free to ask me questions too. Sorry it's so short though. I'll make the second chapter much, much longer if you review and tell me you like it.**

**1. This is Austin's dirty-minded self coming out again if you didn't notice.**

**-Kenzie**


	2. Chapter 2

As I walk toward Hannah's house, I hear someone behind me. It's probably Ally.

"Austin!" she calls. "Wait up!" Yep, I was right. I slow my pace a little and she catches up to me. "I'm sorry, Austin. I just thought that it was your idea. Because I know that I annoy you sometimes and I just thought that you finally got tired of it." I stop walking and turn to her.

"I would never get tired of you, Ally, and you aren't annoying. You're my best friend," I remind her. She smiles.

"You're so sweet," she says, "I'm glad I have you for a best friend." I smile back.

"It might not be a good idea for you to be with me when I break up with her," I tell her. "She may or may not kill you. I'll come back to your house after."

"You're right," she agrees. "See you later, Austin." She jogs back toward her house. I sigh and continue to Hannah's house, full of fear.

"Alright, Austin, you can do this," I say as I knock on Hannah's front door. She opens the door and my stomach drops. She greets me with a kiss.

_I can't do this, _I say in my head,_ I can't do this._

She invites me in and we walk up to my room.

"I have a surprise for you," she says seductively, walking into her closet. I swallow.

"O-oh yeah?" I ask. "And what's that?" She walks out with purple lingerie in her hand.

"I got a new outfit just for my baby," she says with a wink.

**Ally's POV:**

_Dear Diary/Songbook,_

_It's been three hours since Austin told me he was going to break up with Hannah. What's keeping him? Wait a minute. Why did I even ask that? I know exactly what's keeping him. Somehow Hannah pulled him back in with her good lucks and witty mind. I hate Austin! No, I lied. I can't say that. He's my best friend. I can't hate him. Okay, I strongly dislike him right now. Yeah, that's better. Anyway, I just hope he remembers to come over. Oh! I hear someone coming up the stairs! Maybe it's Austin!_

"I'm home from work," my dad says, poking his head into my room. I sigh as he walks back out.

_Never mind. It was just my dad. You know, I don't even understand why Austin likes Hannah. She just thinks he's her puppet to control... **(1) **and he lets himself be that puppet! If he were mine, I would let him be the wind. Wait, what? No. He will never be mine... Wait, someone else is coming up the stairs! I think it's really Austin this time. I'll write in you later._

_Love, Ally_

I roll over to greet him. I'm hopeful that he finally broke up with her until he walks into my room.

He has his hands shoved into his pockets. His hair is strewn messily across his face, matted together with sweat. The top four buttons of his plaid shirt are unbuttoned too. One of his shoes are untied and they're both on the wrong feet.

I roll back over onto my stomach and look down at my book.

"You couldn't do it, could you?" I ask as I feel his weight on my bed.

"Psht, what makes you think that?" he asks in a high-pitched voice.

"The fact that you're sweating and that your shoes are on the wrong feet," I say, flipping the page of my book.

"Whaaat? Don't you know? Sweat and... wearing your shoes on... the wrong feet is... the new style," he tells me, trying to sound as if it's so obvious.

"No it isn't, Austin. I'm not _that _much of a nerd," I mutter.

"Look, Ally, I just couldn't break her heart," he tells me. I break the pencil I'm holding.

"You couldn't _break her heart?" _I ask, rolling back over and sitting up. I go from sitting to standing. "You act like she would _care! _You act like she wouldn't go out and find herself a new puppy to follow her around! That's all you are to her!" I yell at him angrily.

"No I'm not! Hannah actually cares about me! Unlike you! See, this is exactly why... Never mind," he mutters, standing up too. "You're just jealous of Hannah!"

"_Jealous? _I am not _jealous! _Why would I be jealous of her when she's dating an _idiot _like you!" I scream at him.

"You know what? Maybe it _is _better that we aren't partners. All we do is fight. Don't talk to me ever again," he tells me, leaving my room. I just stand there dumbfounded, my mouth slightly open. It's true; we fight twenty-four-seven... but it's never gotten to the point of one of us telling the other not to talk to them. A tear rolls down my cheeks. I'm paralyzed though so I can't wipe it.

It's been an hour since Austin left and I'm still standing in the same position. I see Trish walk into my room.

"Ally?" she asks. "Are you alright...?"

"I think I'm in shock..." I tell her.

"What do you mean?" she asks. She pushes me back and makes me sit down on my bed.

"Austin and I just had a fight..." I pause and Trish takes this as an opportunity to speak.

"What else is new?" she asks sarcastically.

"... And he told me never to talk to him again," I finish, still staring across the room.

"He _what?" _she asks. "Where's he at now?" I shrug.

"How am I supposed to know?" I ask. I shake my head. "I just can't believe he said that..."

"Well, we're going to look for him," she says. She pulls me, trying to stand me up, and I fall to the ground, my body now limp. She picks me up and slings my arm around her shoulders. She literally drags me out of my house.

"I can't believe he said that..." I murmur. "I can't believe he said that..." I go into a sort of trance, repeating those six words over and over again. "I can't believe he said that..."

"I can't believe he said it either, Ally," she says. "That's why we're going to find him and kill him."

"I can't believe he said that..." I murmur again. Trish knocks on the front door of his house. "I can't believe he said that..."

"Hello Ally, Trish," Mimi says.

"I can't believe he said that..."

"You can't believe who said what, honey?" Mimi asks me.

"I can't believe he said that..." I repeat.

"Is Austin here?" Trish asks.

"I can't believe he said that..."

"Yes, he's upstairs in his room. Go on up," Mimi says, moving aside. Trish drags me inside. "Um, is Ally alright?"

"I can't believe he said that..."

"She's fine," Trish calls in a high-pitched voice as she pulls me up the stairs, "her legs are just a little tired." She laughs nervously. She opens Austin's door. He's lying on his bed, playing around with his phone. Trish sits me down on the floor.

"I can't believe he said that..." I murmur.

"What'd she say?" Austin asks. Trish answers by slapping him across the face. "Ow!" he yells. He cups his now-red cheek in his hand. "What was that for?!"

"I can't believe he said that..."

"Do you know how bad you hurt Ally?! She's in shock and she keeps repeating the same thing over and over again!" Trish screams at him angrily. "Listen!" She pushes him to the floor, close to my mouth.

"I can't believe he said that..." I repeat. "I can't believe he said that..."

"She can't believe who said what?" he asks.

"I can't believe he said that..."

"She can't believe you told her never to talk to her again!" Trish yells at him. He looks at me.

"I can't believe he said that..."

"Ally, you know I didn't mean that. I mean, I said it because I was mad. You just made me really mad. I didn't know what else to say. I was out of arguments," he tells me.

"I can't believe he said that..."

"Ally, I didn't mean it. I _swear_. I just... I don't know. I wanted you to feel how I felt," he says. This snaps me out of my trance. I blink and look up at him.

"How _you _felt? I've been pushed aside for almost three months because of Hannah and you think that _you _have it bad?!" I ask, getting mad. Trish grabs me and pulls me out of the room as I scream rude things at Austin.

"You can't fight forever," Trish tells me as we walk into to my house.

"I don't know, Trish," I say. I shake my head. "This fight is almost as bad as the one on the day..." I trail off, remembering that Trish doesn't know about it.

"The day what?" she asks eagerly. "What happened?! You have to tell me!"

"Trish, I can't," I sigh, "you'd kill me if I did."

"No, I'll kill you if you don't," she corrects me. I sigh once more as I push the door to my room open.

"Okay, Trish, if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else. You can't tell Austin, Dez, Hannah, your mom, your dad, my dad. You can't tell _anyone!" _I tell her.

"I promise!" she exclaims impatiently. "Now tell me!" I sigh.

"Okay, fine..." I say. I hesitate before closing my door and pouring myself out to her.

**Oh, hello. I'm sorry. Did I end the chapter before Ally told the secret? I sowwy. I'm pretty sure most of you already know what it is since it was obvious. So if you do know, DON'T SAY IT. LEAVE IT A SURPRISE FOR THE OTHERS WHO DON'T KNOW!**

**1. I stole this from LoveShipper. They said it in a review and I liked it so I hope you don't mind that I stole it? :)?**

**Oh, and R5GirlyPenguin, I have some good news. *whispers* Come closer... Closer... Closer! *shouts* YOU WERE THE FIRST REVIEWER! CONGRATULATIONS! *virtual high five***

**Geez, I just can't seem to make these chapters long :( I'll try my best though in future chapters... Anyway... review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe (Trying something new?)**


	3. Chapter 3

"You—?!" Trish starts to ask but I clamp my hand down over her mouth.

"Trish, you can't say a word!" I tell her through sobs. She sighs.

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe it," she says, shaking her head and standing up. She paces around my room. "So..." she starts but she pauses, stopping her pacing. She looks around then starts pacing again. "I just can't make any sense out of this. Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I just couldn't find a way to," I admit. I wipe my tears and look down at my red blanket.

"Ally, we're best friends, you can tell me anything," she reminds me, sitting down beside me. I smile and sniffle. She hugs me and I hug her back.

"Thanks, Trish. You're the best," I say to her. I pull away from her and smile. "So you aren't going to tell anyone about this... erm... story I just told you, right?" I ask. She pretends to zip her lips and nods.

"My lips are sealed," she says. She shifts uncomfortably. "Can I twit about it, though?"

"No, Trish! You can't repeat this to anyone! Not virtually or in person!" I exclaim. She rests her hand on my wrists, telling me to calm down.

"Alright, fine," she says. She smiles. "I won't tell a living soul and if I do, I'll kill them afterward," she promises.

"You're a good friend," I say. Suddenly, my door bursts open and I know who it is before I even look at him somehow.

"_Get out of my house, Austin!_" I scream. "_Who let you in anyways?!_"

"Ally, your dad let me in," he tells me calmly. He takes a deep breath. "Ally, I just want to talk. No screaming and fighting until two am. Just talking."

"I'll leave you two alone," Trish says, standing up. I grab her wrist.

"Don't leave me alone with him. Are you crazy?!" I whisper-yell.

"Actually, Ally... I think this is more of a private conversation..." Austin says slowly and quietly. Trish walks away and I walk her to my bedroom door.

"Stay right outside the door in case I need you," I whisper after her, shutting the door. I turn back around to Austin.

"Look, Ally, I'm really sorry about saying what I did," he tells me.

"You have experience with saying sorry to me so by now, you can probably do it without even feeling anything," I spit, crossing my arms over my chest and sitting back down on my bed again.

"No, Ally, I mean it. I don't like fighting with you. Best friends shouldn't fight like this," he says sadly.

"Yeah, I've heard that before," I mutter, thinking of that night. Apparently, he remembers this too.

"You forgave me for that, remember?" he asks.

"Only because I was ready for that to be over."

"We both agreed that it was a stupid mistake. No, I mean..." He rambles on, trying to make me understand what he's trying to say.

"I don't _regret _it, if that's what you mean," I snap, standing up.

"What I meant to say is that it was meaningless," he says. His eyes widen when the words reach his own ears. I start talking as he opens his mouth.

"_Meaningless?! How can you say that it was meaningless?!" _I ask, infuriated. "_Are you saying that I meant absolutely nothing to you?! Are you saying that you didn't really love me even though you said it countless times?!"_

"What's going on in here?" Trish asks, walking inside at the sound of my screams.

"He just said it was _meaningless_," I say through clenched teeth.

"What was meaningless?" she asks.

"What we talked about," I say.

"You told her?!" Austin asks. "But we said we'd never tell! I never even told Dez!"

"Well, Trish is my best friend. I had to tell her. And I didn't think we weren't telling because it was 'meaningless'," I mumble. I roll my eyes.

"Ally, I didn't—" he starts.

"Just get out," I say, a lump forming in my throat.

"What?" he asks quietly. "You-you've never told me to get out before..."

"Well, you told me never to talk to you again so I wanted to try something new too," I snap. Usually, he leaves of his own free will after we fight. I've never _made _him get out of my house even though I easily could have. He blinks, obviously not believing the words emerging from my mouth.

"You heard me!" I yell. "Get out! Get out! Get out! _Get out!"_ He blinks again, dumbfounded, but nonetheless, he hangs his head and leaves my room. I sigh.

My sigh is ragged though because of the tears streaming down my face now. I wait until I hear the door shut downstairs to turn to Trish and bury myself in her arms.

**Austin's POV:**

"Good job, babe," Hannah says, her arms encircling my neck from behind.

"I don't know..." I say quietly, shaking my head. "She seemed really angry this time... She... she told me to get out."

"All the better," she tells me, "because now she won't be jumping down your throat about every single thing you do wrong."

**Ally's POV:**

It's been about a week since I've spoken to Austin. Every time he passes by the store, if he passes by the store, I give him the dirtiest look I can manage and he runs the rest of the way past it. I sigh as I look up from my book. I see Austin standing in front of the counter.

"Get out of my store," I mutter, looking back down at my book.

"No," he protests.

"Excuse me?" I ask, looking back up.

"I said no. I'm not leaving until you forgive me," he says stubbornly.

"Well, I'm not forgiving you," I say.

"You have to," he tells me. "There's no Austin without Ally and you know it. You've been a mess since you kicked me out of your life, haven't you?"

"How did you know?" I ask. Wait. "I mean, psht, no. I've been having a blast." He gives me a look as if to say 'Tell the truth.' "Fine," I give in, "it's been boring around here without you. There was an occasional highlight from Dez but other than that, nothing." He smiles as if that were the correct thing to say.

"If you forgive me now, we can go somewhere fun," he tells me.

"Where...?" I ask suspiciously.

"You have to forgive me first," he jokes with a smirk. I roll my eyes. I smile at the fact that he's joking with me.

"Fine, I forgive you. Now where?" I ask.

"Hannah's house!" he exclaims happily. The smile is wiped off of my face.

"I'm not going there," I say.

"Fine. Hannah!" he calls. She walks into the store.

"Get out," I say immediately.

"Ally..." Austin warns. I sigh.

"Why is she here?" I ask. She smiles.

"You can still be best friends with him as long as you don't touch him. You aren't allowed to hug, kiss, shake hands, hold hands, or touch hips on the piano bench," she says as she counts them off on her fingers. "You aren't allowed to touch _at all."_

"Yeah, 'cause we hold hands, kiss, and touch each other _all the time_," I snort sarcastically, rolling my eyes. She walks behind the counter and gets in my face.

"Don't push me," she snaps. I put my hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright," I say.

"Hannah, please stop it," Austin says. She walks back over to him.

"Okay, just for you," she says with a wink. She kisses him in the most repulsive way. "See you later, babe," she says then she leaves. Austin looks up in a daze.

"Isn't she amazing?" he asks, resting his head in hands and his arms on the counter, still looking up.

"I'd use other words," I mutter, thinking he can't hear me. Apparently, he can. He just returns to a normal standing position and rolls his eyes.

"So what'cha doin'?" he asks in a sing-songish voice, trying to read my book upside-down. I slam it shut even though he can barely read it when it's right-side-up.

"Nothin'," I say in the same sing-song voice. He sighs.

"You're gonna have to let me touch it one day," he tells me.

"Not anytime soon," I say with a smirk. He pouts.

"Pwease, Awwy. Pwease! Pwease! Pweeease!" he asks in a baby voice.

"No, Austy. No! No! No!" I say, mimicking him. He smiles and laughs.

"Fine," he says in a normal voice. "You wanna write a song?"

"I'd love to," I say, "if I had any ideas in mind." I shake my head. "I've been a bit dry lately." He takes my hand and leads me over to the piano. I snatch my hand out of his. "We aren't supposed to hold hands," I remind him.

"Did she see it?" he asks. I shake my head. "Then it doesn't matter," he tells me with a wink. He sits me down at the piano and sits beside me, our hips touching. I scoot away from him a little and fall off the bench. "Ally, I told you: She isn't here to see it so it doesn't matter." I sigh, stand up, and sit back down, allowing our hips to brush. He places his hands on the black and white keys and I do the same.

"So what kind of song do you wanna write?" I ask.

"The kinds of songs we always write," he says, "duh." I sigh again. No lyrics are coming to me. I play a few chords. Nothing. We sit there for about an hour, waiting for my brain to come up with something.

"I'm blocked," I finally decide.

"Blocked?" he asks.

"Writer's block," I say. He nods in understanding. He switches the sign on the door to closed even though I doubt anyone will come in. It's Friday night. Everyone's out partying with their friends. That reminds me. "Austin, don't you have a party to go to?" I ask as he sits back down beside me on the piano bench.

"What? A party? No," he says confused.

"You don't have any plans?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"What would make you think I do?" he asks.

"You know... it's Friday night... and you always have plans... It just kinda makes sense," I tell him.

"Not tonight, I don't," he says then his face fills with worry. "Wait a minute. Oh, no. I do have plans. I'm supposed to take Hannah to the movies!" We sit in silence for about a minute or so, staring at the keys. Suddenly, I feel my face being turned then I hear a loud noise, followed by a sharp pain in my cheek.

"Ow!" I scream. I look up and see Hannah.

"What did I say about your hips touching?" she asks through clenched teeth. I automatically stand up.

"It was Austin's idea!" I exclaim. "He told me that since you weren't here, it doesn't matter! And—"

"Don't blame this on Austin," she snaps.

"No, no, it was my fault," Austin admits, standing too.

"Don't take pity on her and say it was your fault," she tells him. She loops her arm through Austin's and pulls him out the door of Sonic Boom. I stand there with my mouth open. What. A. Bitch. Yeah, I said it. Ally Dawson said the word... the word... Never mind. I see Dez walk in with Trish.

"What's wrong, Ally?" Trish asks. I realize tears are rolling down my cheeks from the pain of the slap.

"Hannah..." I start. If she knew, she really would go kill her. "I tripped. Bashed my face on the edge of the piano," I lie.

"You're such a bad liar," she tells me.

"Why does Hannah bother you so much?" Dez asks me. "I saw her slap you. Trish just didn't notice."

"She slapped you?!" Trish asks. I ignore her as she goes on about the many ways she could kill Hannah.

"Hannah doesn't bother me," I lie yet again.

"Is it because you still love Austin?" Dez asks. My eyes widen.

"What?!" I ask. "I never... loved... Austin..."

"Please, Ally. I know you two dated," he tells me.

"You-you knew?" I ask. "Did Austin tell you?" He shakes his head.

"Wait... You told _Dez_, of all people, before _me, your best friend?!" _Trish asks.

"Dez knows everything," he says, also ignoring Trish. I blink. "And you didn't answer my question. Do you still love Austin?" he asks. Trish leans in closer in anticipation for my answer. I sigh.

"Yes, I still love Austin..." I say slowly. Trish gasps then squeals, smiling like a crazed maniac.

**Oh, hi. I didn't see you reading there. I wanted to keep the secret a secret from you guys until later but, frankly, I'm just not very good at keeping secrets. Well, now we know the secret. Now we know Ally still has feelings for Austin. And now we know... that Dez really knows **_**EVERYTHING**_**. O.o …**

**The whole next chapter will be a flashback (except for the end maybe) and I really don't want to put the whole thing in italics so... it's gonna be in regular print. Just know that the whole thing (most of it) is a flashback.**

**Oh, by the way, I restarted the poll so you can vote again. Haha, I hope you know that I'm gonna keep reminding you until I get... hm... five votes. No, six. No, seven. No, eight. No, nine. No, ten. Okay, that's as far as I'll go. I'll keep reminding you until I get ten votes xD Sorry that I didn't update yesterday. My internet was out :( Anyway, review, my lovelies!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Ally, you broke my guitar!" Austin yelled at me._

"_No I didn't!" I argued. "Dez broke it!" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose._

"_You were the only one in my room after I left! Don't blame it on Dez!" he shouted. Tears formed in my eyes._

"_Why would I break your guitar?! I know it's your favorite! I wouldn't even touch it!" I screamed back._

And that was the summary of last night's stupid, pointless fight. I sighed and closed my book, looking up at Austin sleeping soundly in my bed. After we calmed down, he finally realized that I really wouldn't break his guitar and I let him stay over for the night. I cuddled up to him and slept for a little while before I woke up about an hour ago. I reopened my book and picked up my pen.

_Top down in the summer sun_

_The day we met was like a hit and run_

_And I_

_Still taste it on my tongue_

_The sky was burnin' up like fireworks_

_You made me want you_

_Oh-so-bad, it hurt_

_But boy..._

_In case you haven't heard..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever_

_Forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night_

_Now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me cryin'_

_Say hello then goodbye_

_'Cause just one sip..._

_Would make me sick..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever..._

_But now it's over_

_Hot sweat and blurry eyes_

_We're spinnin' on a roller coaster ride_

_The world..._

_Stuck in black and white..._

_You drove me crazy every time we touched_

_Now I'm so broken that I can't get up_

_Oh boy..._

_You make me such a lush..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever_

_Forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night_

_Now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me cryin'_

_Say hello then goodbye_

_'Cause just one sip..._

_Would make me sick..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever..._

_But now it's over_

_All the time I wasted on you_

_All the bullshit you put me through_

_I'm checkin' into rehab_

_'Cause everything that we had_

_Didn't mean a thing to you..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever..._

_But now I'm sober..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever_

_Forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night_

_Now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me cryin'_

_Say hello then goodbye_

_'Cause just one sip..._

_Would make me sick..._

_I used to be love drunk_

_But now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever...!_

_But now it's over...!_

I stopped writing as soon as I felt Austin's weight shift on my bed. I closed my book.

"What are you writing?" he asked me, his hot breath on my neck.

"Nothing," I said.

"Come on, I'm your boyfriend. You'll have to show me sometime," he told me.

"There you go again," I muttered.

"What?" he asked, standing up as I did too.

"You always pull the boyfriend card and I'm sick of it," I snapped at him.

"Well, if you just let me look at your book, I would stop pulling it!" he exclaimed.

"I don't let _anyone _look at my book. You think you're so special just because you're my boyfriend now?" I asked. He nodded. "Well you're wrong!" I yelled.

"Why can't you just show me the stupid book?!" he asked.

"Because you call it stupid!" I yelled.

"Your book is stupid. Your book is stupid," he taunted over and over again.

"_Just shut up!" _I screamed. "_Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" _Tears streamed down my cheeks. _"My book is not stupid! My book is not the stupid one here! You are! You're stupid! You are the stupidest, dumbest, most idiotic, arrogant, conceited, rudest boy I've ever met!" _We fell silent.

"I don't like fighting with you. Best friends shouldn't fight like this. I just want to end it all..." he said quietly, now much calmer.

"Me too..." I agreed, calmer now too.

"We're through." He walked out of my room without another word.

"But Austin... I love you..." I whispered even though he was already down the stairs. I heard the door downstairs open and close. I dropped my book and ran after him. I threw open the door but he was already gone. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. I went back to my room and sat down on my bed.

"_This is your fault!" _I yelled at my book, picking it up. I opened it to the song I just wrote. I underline a paragraph, circle it, do whatever I can to make it stand out.

_All the time I wasted on you_

_All the bullshit you put me through_

_I'm checkin' into rehab_

_'Cause everything that we had_

_Didn't mean a thing to you..._

And it didn't apparently. He just walked out on me. Like he didn't even care about my feelings. He didn't wait to see my reaction. He just didn't care. It was as if I were just a weight finally lifted off his shoulders.

I really wanted to call Trish but I can't tell her about Austin and I. We agreed to keep it a secret and that's exactly what I did... but I really needed her right now. I needed my best friend... and not the one I dated. I supposed that I did want him too but he didn't want me and I respected that. A sob escaped my lips at that thought.

I didn't respect it at all! I wanted my Austin back! I wanted my Dougie the Dolphin-wanting, horror movie-loving, coloring book-coloring, pancake-loving, song-stealing overnight sensation back! And I wanted him back now! But he didn't want me. That echoed in my mind for the longest.

_He doesn't want you..._

But he was my best friend and my boyfriend and now neither of them were his title anymore.

_Put me out of my misery... Wait, Ally, what are you talking about? Austin will come running back through that door any minute now._

I stared at the door.

_Any minute now... Any minute now... Any—oh, forget it! He isn't coming back anytime soon._

I crawled under my covers and cried my eyes out. I heard a knock on my door then I heard it open.

"Ally, honey, are you alright?" I heard my dad ask.

"Go away!" I yelled at him though it came out muffled. He left the room, obviously not wanting to talk either. He'd never been good at talking things out. I quickly got over this though (on the outside) and was up and running the next day.

Trish kept asking me what was wrong because she's my best friend and she knew everything... except the fact that I dated and got dumped by my ex-best friend/ex-boyfriend. I guessed that I'd tell her someday but not any day soon.

* * *

Well, it hadn't been soon but it had been sooner than I thought. An hour ago, when I admitted that I still loved Austin, Trish and Dez both ran off to God knows where.

Hopefully, they aren't going to tell Austin. I'm not that worried about it though because even if they tell Austin, he won't care. And as for Hannah... she was going to kill me eventually anyway. It's better to get it over with as soon as possible instead of prolonging it. I play many sad songs on the piano in the practice room.

Austin... I just can't believe he let her slap me like that... and he didn't even say one word about it! I'm not forgiving him this time. No, no, no. I've given him too many chances and he's wasted every one of them. I really won't give in. No, not this time. The day I forgive him will be the day I ride off on a purple unicorn into Ally World. I snicker at my funny impossibility. I hear the practice room door open and I slowly turn my head to see my visitor. Thankfully, it's only Trish.

"Hey," I say quietly, "where'd you run off to?"

"Well, I was gonna tell Austin that you were still in love with him..." she starts. I knew it. "... but I couldn't find him," she finishes sadly.

"I think he's at the movies," I mutter, turning back to the piano. "Either that or he's at one of their houses."

"Wow... I didn't expect you... to tell me that so... willingly..." she admits.

"There's no point in hiding it," I say with a shrug, placing three of my fingers on the middle C chord. I play it but I press them at different times accidentally so it comes out distorted. I shudder at the sound.

"What's up with you?" she asks me, sitting down in a chair next to the piano.

"I don't know. It doesn't really matter," I say.

"Everything matters," she tells me. "What is it?" I shake my head.

"It's just that... Austin is the only boy I'll ever love and he loves someone else," I whisper.

"Please, Ally," she snorts. "He doesn't love her. The skank tricked him into _thinking _he loves her but he really doesn't. Deep down, he probably still loves you."

"I highly doubt it," I tell her. "When we broke up, he just walked out. He didn't care how I felt about it."

"Did he walk out right after he said it?" she asks. I nod. "Then he probably wanted to stop himself from turning around and apologizing to you. He wanted to prove to himself that he was a man who could break up with you without feeling anything. You know that it hurt him later.

"Dez told me that when he realized you two had broken up, it was because Austin would barely leave his house. He would just sulk around in his underwear, too 'lazy' to put on regular clothes." She put air quotes around the word lazy. "He would shake at the mention of your name. And he always had an odd distant look in his eye. He wouldn't eat unless his mom made him. He'd stay up all night, refusing to sleep. He didn't shower either which I think is totally disgusting..." She pauses.

"Dez told you all of this?" I ask. She nods and continues her story.

"Apparently, Hannah and Austin met around February this year," she tells me. That's about the time Austin and I started having our fights... "Eventually, Austin told her why he was upset. Because you two had broken up. She jumped at the chance. She twisted him into this... this... this... _thing_. You and me both know that Austin is buried down there somewhere. Somewhere deep down inside of him." She puts a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find him even if it takes an eternity."

She leaves the practice room, leaving her words hanging in my mind, floating around, while they sink in slowly. So Austin really did care? I should have fought for him! I should have fought for him... Now I've lost him forever to... to... _Hannah freaking Jordan_. I sigh when I realize that there's nothing I can do about it. I let my head fall down on the piano keys, not caring about the sound it lets out.

I guess that's it then.

My life is over.

I'll never have him back.

Hannah has him wrapped around her little finger now.

Wait a minute...

My life isn't over! I stand up. I'm gonna get my Austin back right now! I guess I'll be riding off into Ally World on my purple unicorn today because I'm going to forgive him. I have to if I want him back. I stomp down the stairs and out the doors of Sonic Boom with a sudden burst of courage... then my shoulders slump and my legs carry me back up to the practice room. I can't do that. Not on my own at least.

I'll have to wait for Trish. She'll have an evil plan cooked up already. I just know it...

**Why, hello there, my lovelies. How are you today? I have a question for you all... Do you think that... I'm good enough to write my own book? Because I want to write one but I'm kinda scared to. I want to make it like My Songwriter's Scary Secret but different.**

**Like, I'd still have the girl vampire and the mortal best friend who's in love with her but doesn't know. And the vampire cousin and the cousin's genius best friend (Rowanor was smart as fudge, remember?) and his mate. Except the girl was changed. Not born into it. Also, the girl isn't a songwriter and the boy doesn't want to be the biggest name in music history.**

**Anyway, just tell me if you think I'd be good enough or if you think I should wait until I'm a little more experienced. Review with your answer and your feedback of my story that you just read! Please and thank you!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Trish. You know you're my best friend, right?" I ask, trying to sound casual but it comes out high-pitched. Trish sits down on the couch.

"What do you want?" she asks narrowing her eyes at me.

"I want you to help me with Austin and Hannah," I tell her simply. Her eyes light up.

"Ooh! Okay! First, we need a blowtorch—"

"Trish, we're not using fire," I say as if I'm talking to a child. She pouts.

"Fine," she mutters. "Ooh, how about—?"

"We're not drowning Hannah either," I say. She huffs.

"Fine... How about we just talk it out with her?" she asks. We look at each other for a second then we burst out laughing. I give her a high five.

"That was a good one," I say. After our laughter dies down, my face turns serious. "I really expected you to have a plan though."

"I _did_," she reminds me. "You just ruled out my good plans. Um, we could... we could... Oh, forget this!" She stands up and leaves the practice room and I'm right on her heels. I wonder what she's going to do. She walks to Austin's house. No one seems to be home though. I hesitantly follow her inside. She walks straight up to Austin's room. She just leans against the wall across from Austin's door.

"What are you waiting for?" she asks me. I didn't know she wanted _me _to open the door. I rest my hand on the doorknob then I hear something.

"_Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!_" It's Hannah. Her voice is more high pitched than it usually is. I hear Austin groan. My heart drops into my shoes and my hand slides off the doorknob.

"Let's do this later," I whisper to Trish.

"No, we're doing this now," she says. She puts her hand on the doorknob and I yank it off.

"No, Trish!" I whisper-yell.

"_Oh!" _Hannah exclaims once again.

"Why not?" she asks when I push her a step back from the door.

"They're... uh... busy," I say. I feel tears forming in my eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asks. She notices the tears. "Oh..." she says as she slowly understands. The moans and groans suddenly stop. I put my ear to the door.

"I can't do this," I hear Austin say quietly. "I feel bad for her. I know she's upset about this." He knows me too well...

"Just keep going. She'll leave," Hannah says at the same volume. I hear him cross the room and I begin to walk back down the hall. The door opens.

"Ally," Austin says. I swallow and turn around. He's fully clothed. Well, he got dressed quickly. "We weren't really..." he trails off.

"Sure," I say.

"Really, Als. We weren't. We saw you coming and Hannah said we should just to make you mad. I didn't want to yet and so I suggested we just pretend. But I just had a feeling you were crying so..." he trails off again.

"You... you _had a feeling _I was crying?" I ask. "What do you mean?" He shrugs.

"I'm... not... I'm not really... sure," he says. "I just had a feeling in my stomach and it wasn't good." I give him a slight smile and he smiles back. "Are you forgiving me?" The smile drops from my face.

"I don't know," I say quietly. "Should I?" The words echoed in my own mind.

_Should I...? Should I...?_

I honestly didn't know if I should. I guess the decision is kind of up to Austin right now. It's the moment of truth. Yes... or no. It was as if Austin and I were the only two in the hallway as we stared into each others' eyes.

"I don't know," he says too. He shakes his head and frowns. "I mean, I guess you shouldn't. Look at everything I've done to you. Some of the things I've done... they shouldn't be forgiven." I sigh.

"Good choice," I mutter. "I guess I won't forgive you then." I turn my back on him and walk down the stairs.

"We could have been fucking!" Hannah calls down the stairs. I make a rude hand gesture up the stairs without even looking back up at them. I hear Trish behind me.

Although I really wanted to forgive him, Austin was right. Some of the things he's done are too deep. The fights never really hurt me. What did hurt me was the breakup. The way he just walked out without looking back. I don't care if he was upset for the whole next year. He shouldn't have walked out. We should have talked it out. Maybe we'd still be together today.

You know what they say: the first cut is the deepest.

The breakup still stings my heart at times, to be honest. The other metaphorical wounds he'd made don't hurt me as much as that did. The mere thought of it makes me want to cry. I really wanted him to say yes. That's what I was counting on. But he didn't. When he said "I guess you shouldn't," I mean, what _was _that?

A smart person would have said yes... but a thoughtful person would have said what he did. They'd put themselves in my shoes. Think about how I feel. That's what Austin did. He put himself in my shoes. He _knew _that some of the things he's done were unforgivable. I guess we just weren't meant to be together. He'd probably just hide me anyway.

That's another thing that bothers me. If he really loved me, like he said he did countless times, we would be public about our relationship. But he's perfectly fine with being with Hannah. A thought occurs to me and I stop walking, halfway to my house. What if he was embarrassed to be seen with me? I guess he was fine being friends because we were just that. Friends. And then he decided to see what it was like to date a dork and I seemed to fit the bill. Anger flares up inside of me and I continue home, Trish right behind me.

Maybe that's the real reason why he walked out. Maybe he really didn't feel anything and was glad to be rid of me. Maybe I really was a weight finally lifted from his shoulders. Maybe I was just his plaything. Maybe he just wanted to toy with my heart. Maybe he only stayed in his house because he felt sorry for me.

I notice that there's something that all of these words have in common: Maybe. They're just possibilities that I've made up in my own head. They're just figments of my imagination. Maybe it's just the opposite of what I've thought. There I go again. I'm overthinking this. Way too much. But even though they may just be possibilities, they _are _possibilities. Which means that they're possible...

I walk into my house, stopping at the door. I turn around and look at Trish who's smiling sadly. She wants to talk about this, I know. But I just can't right now. I've already thought about this too much. The last thing I need right now is to talk about it. I swallow and smile back.

"We'll talk later," I say. "I would tell you to think up a good revenge plan to get Austin back but... he's told me not to forgive him so I guess I just won't. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Trish." I close the door slowly and trudge up the stairs at the same speed. What happened just took the life out of me, I guess. No worries, though. I'll be fine again by tomorrow...

The next day, I find out that I was wrong. I wake up in a grumpy mood and I'm snapping at everyone all day. Including my dad. He didn't like it very much but he didn't punish me or anything. He just took on a sad expression. Straight after my coffee, I went straight to work.

Maybe cleaning the instruments will take my stress away. As soon as I get there, I make sure to leave the sign switched to closed. I get the cleaning supplies and set to work on the large tuba downstairs. It isn't long that I hear a knock on the Sonic Boom door. I turn around, expecting to see Austin or Trish but to my surprise, it isn't either of them.

It's Nelson. I walk over to the doors and open one of them.

"Hello, Ally," he says with a bright smile on his face, a small lisp in his words. I smile back with a bit less enthusiasm. It slowly fades away as I speak though.

"Hi, Nelson. I can't give you your lesson today. I'm just... not in the mood," I tell him, summing it up. He notices my sad expression and frowns.

"Are you okay? You look sad," he says, his tone mirroring the way I feel. I sigh and try to brighten up a bit.

"Actually, I'm fine. Come on inside and we'll start your piano lesson," I say, leading him over to the grand piano. We sit down and begin his lesson. I get further and further away from the lesson the deeper into it we get. The sound of distorted piano sounds reach my ears and I look down.

"How was that?" he asks. I nod.

"Very good," I say flatly. He turns a little on the bench.

"Are you sure you're fine? You aren't acting like it," he tells me sadly.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Nelson," I say.

"Maybe if you tell me about it, you'll feel better. I might not understand some of the things you say but I still think it'll make you feel better," he tells me with a small smile. He's so adorable that I can't resist doing what he says. I summarize the whole story about what's happened over the past few weeks.

"And the whole problem is that I can't get over Austin. I still love him," I finish.

"You love Austin?" he asks. I nod. "With all your heart?" he asks. I nod again. Tears well up in his eyes. "That means you don't have any room in your heart for me! You'll never love me!" The tears flow down his cheeks as he runs out of the store. I stand up.

"Wait, Nelson!" I call but he's already long gone. I sigh and sit back down. I seem to drive everyone away. Austin doesn't want me in his life. Hannah never liked me just for the fact that I dated Austin. I haven't spoken to Dez in a while either. I've gotten Nelson to believe I don't love him. I mean, I do love him but in a little-brother/big-sister way. I've even pushed my dad out of my personal life. The only friend who remains is Trish.

I guess she really will be here through thick and thin. That's what best friends are for, right? She's proven herself true then. I really want to talk to her about this but I don't know the right words to say. When I summed it up for Nelson, I changed a few things.

I left out the parts about where I thought Austin and Hannah were... yeah, exactly how bad the breakup was and the pain I felt, all of our fights (I just said we had a lot of fights; I didn't describe any of them.) What I'm trying to say is that I left out a lot of key points that I would need to tell Trish. I hear another knock on the door and I'm hoping it's Trish.

I look up and see Austin. I walk to the door and for a moment, I actually think about opening it. Then I point to the left, telling him to keep walking. He hangs his head and walks off. This was his decision. He can't just go back and change it.

It's like a test. After you put down an answer and turn it in the test, you can't change the answer once it's already been graded. Austin answered no and his grade is to never be forgiven. He can't change it to yes. It's already been decided. But soon, I'd give in; I already knew it. That's just the kind of person I am. I may forgive but I never forget.

And all of the cuts I don't forget, which is every single one of them, lemon juice is squeezed into them every time I talk to the person. The person who has the knife, ready to plunge it deep into my skin once more. The knife holder is usually Austin, of course. He just holds it so well that he has to stab someone with it or he'll go crazy. I grab my book and silently thank God for reminding me to bring it.

_The first cut is the deepest..._

I remember the last sentence I'd thought and continue it with something relevant: He'll go crazy with the help of his "beloved" girlfriend. And with the help of this "beloved" girlfriend, he'll forget all about me. I know he will. I can feel it in my bones. That reminds me of what he'd said when he walked out of his room. When him and Hannah were pretending to have sex so that I would leave.

"_But I just had a feeling you were crying... … I just had a feeling in my stomach when I thought about it and I didn't like it..."_

What exactly is that supposed to mean? How can you know when someone is crying? To do that, you'd have to have _serious _physical and/or emotional connection... with... them... I roll that over in my mind. Then, finally, I just push it out. You would be able to know I was crying by just thinking about the situation.

It's obvious that I love him anyway. So if the boy you loved was losing their virginity to some other girl, wouldn't you cry too? It's just the legitimate thing to do. Or maybe _I'm _just crazy. Maybe I'm that crazy ex-girlfriend that no one likes. Yep, that's me.

I'm the creepy ex-girlfriend that wants her ex-boyfriend back.

**Sorry that it's late tonight. I was trying to make it really long but I just couldn't. I'm certain that this ****story doesn't like me too well. I mean, I think they're pretty good chapters... right? I just can't make them very long. Sorry about that too.**

**I think it's longer than the other ones though. It's about 2740 words so I'm pretty sure that it's the longest chapter so far. There may be longer ones in the future. Not sure yet.**

**I'll try to update again tomorrow but who knows if I will or not? I'm not sure if I can yet.**

**By the way, I'm sorry about my sour mood today. It's just the way I was writing out Ally's feelings. For it to be descriptive, I have to make myself imagine exactly how the character feels. I'll probably be sad for the next hour or so. But I wouldn't really be sad, it would just be me putting myself in Ally's shoes.**

**Oh, and thanks to the people who think that I'd be good enough to write my own book. You guys make me feel really special :) Well, review, my lovelies. 3**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	6. Chapter 6

Trish comes in about an hour later. I cease my cleaning of the cash register and look up.

"What did you do to Nelson?" she asks me. I look down and sigh.

"He thinks I don't love him anymore. I told him that I loved Austin with all my heart when he asked and now he thinks I don't have any more room left for him," I explain in a monotonous tone. She stares at me long and hard then her expression softens.

"Are we allowed to talk about this now?" she asks. I let out a quiet giggle at the way she worded the question.

"Yeah," I say.

"Everything you thought yesterday, tell me all of it," she commands. This shouldn't be too hard. It's all etched into the side of my head so I won't be forgetting it too soon. I remember it all and tell her. She writes down all of her comments since I didn't really stop talking. When I finally stop, she looks down at her comments and says them.

"Yeah. Austin _is _thoughtful. That's why he said no. He could've said yes but he wants you to forgive him on your own time obviously," she tells me.

"But, Trish—"

"No, Ally, it's my turn to talk," she snaps. I close my mouth. "And he probably wasn't embarrassed to be with you. He might have known that people would go crazy over you two. He knew that I would kill him if he stepped out of line. And he knew that crazy fans would be attacking you 24/7." Wow. That's actually... possible. Why is Trish so smart right now? "He didn't date you because he wanted to see what it was like. He dated you because he loves you. Besides, you aren't a dork." I roll my eyes at that statement. She looks down at the next thing she had to say.

"Some people change their answers. You know what I always do in school, right? If I get a bad grade, I change my answer and I tell the teacher they marked it wrong so my grade gets higher. Maybe that's what Austin did. He saw the bad grade which was a result of his thoughtfulness and wanted to change his grade. And he'd never be able to forget about you. You're Ally Marie Dawson for goodness' sake! You are his songwriter. He can't go anywhere without you!" she exclaims. I say my next sentence quickly so she won't cut me off again.

"Hannah was talking about getting him a professional songwriter," I blurt out. She frowns as her last few sentences become incorrect. She sighs.

"Anyway, you two _do _have a serious connection. And if he didn't care about you and your feelings getting hurt, he wouldn't have stopped. He would have waited until you left. Heck, he might even have actually fucked Hannah," she tells me. Trish, stop making everything I say wrong! I already feel bad as it is!

"But didn't he already lose his virginity to Hannah anyway?" I ask quickly. "Remember that time I walked in on them?"

"Didn't you say that was just a blow job?" she asks. I look down. She's right. It _was _just a blow job... at the time.

"Don't the usually lead to... other things though?" I ask.

"Not always," she answers. "And no. You're not that crazy ex-girlfriend. It's not like you stalk him, begging for him to take you back."

"I hate it when you're right," I mutter. And that was the end of that conversation. I had nothing else to say and Trish had no more comments. I continue cleaning the cash register and Trish starts going off about her new job. I hear nothing of it though. There's this really dirty spot on the register and I can't seem to get it off no matter how hard I scrub it. I let out an angry sigh.

"What's wrong?" Trish asks me.

"There's... this... stupid... little... spot... and... I... can't... get it... clean!" I exclaim between scrubs.

"Uh..." Trish says.

"What?" I ask, still scrubbing.

"Ally," she says.

"What?" I ask, the annoyance obvious in my tone. I'm getting frustrated with this little spot and the fact that Trish isn't really giving me answers.

"Ally..." she repeats.

"What, Trish?" I ask. She doesn't say anything. "What?!" I look up at her and she's looking behind me. I really don't feel like looking to see what it is though so I just keep scrubbing.

"I've got it," someone tells me from right behind me. That must be what Trish was looking at. Except it wasn't a "what," it was a "who." A hand takes the cloth from me and scrubs the dirty spot off in two quick swipes.

"Uh, thanks," I say, turning around. Austin. He gives me a small smile.

"Hey," he says.

"Um... hi," I say back. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Hannah's mad at me so I took it as an opportunity to come and talk to you," he explains.

"Oh" is all I say. "What did you want to talk about?" He takes a deep breath.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for every single thing that I never apologized for. I regret ever hurting you. And there's something that I want to clear up," he tells me. He sighs. "I _do _want you to forgive me. I just don't know if you should. I know some of the things I've done... aren't very good but I'm willing to put all of it behind me if you are," he says, extending his hand to me. "Friends?" I shake my head and he becomes a little nervous. "B-best friends?" he asks hopefully. I smile a little and shake his hand.

"Best friends," I confirm. A best friend may not be what I want to be to him but it's better than nothing, right?

"Yes!" he shouts as he jumps up in the air. He wraps his arm around me in a quick hug. I turn around and Trish is already gone.

"Where'd Trish go?" I ask.

"Probably back to her job," Austin answers. I nod in agreement and look around at the sparkling, clean instruments in the store. Austin notices them too. "Have you been cleaning _all day?" _he asks me.

"Maybe..." I say.

"Are you alright? You only clean when you're... stressed," he says as he slowly understands. "I'm sorry... for stressing you out." He hugs me again but this one lasts longer. I bury my head in his chest and he rests his chin on top of my head, his grip getting tighter as if he didn't want to let me go. "I could stay like this forever," he whispers, caressing my hair.

"We'd better not... Hannah could come in any second," I say, trying to pull away. Austin doesn't let me go though.

"Don't ruin this perfect moment," he says. I sink back into him and smile. We stay like that for a few minutes then something occurs to me.

"Why is Hannah mad at you?" I ask, pulling my head away so that he can hear but still hugging him.

"She's mad that I stopped yesterday. She said that I shouldn't feel bad for you," he tells me.

"That... brings on another question," I say. "It's kind of a personal question..."

"Go ahead and ask it," Austin says, "fire away." He finally releases me and I shift uncomfortably.

"Austin, are you a virgin?" I finally blurt out. He immediately pushes his eyebrows together in confusion. He lets out a small chuckle.

"Of course I am, Als," he tells me.

"Oh, I just thought that the time I walked in on you and Hannah..." I trail off.

"You thought that was gonna lead to... No," he says with another laugh. His laughter dies out quickly. "Would it really bother you that bad if I weren't?"

"I don't know," I mumble. "Maybe." He smirks.

"Well, when I'm not anymore, you'll be the second to know," he says.

"Who'll be first?" I ask.

"Me," he tells me, pointing to himself. A customer walks in.

"Wouldn't the other girl be the second to know though? Before me?" I ask, confused. He just winks at me and walks out of the store. "What is that supposed to mean?" I ask myself under my breath. I push it out of my mind and serve the customer. "Here's your change, ma'am. Have a nice day," I say as she leaves the store.

"So how'd your talk with Austin go?" Trish asks, walking in.

"Where'd _you _go?" I ask, resting my elbows on the counter. She walks over to the other side of the store and sits on the piano bench.

"Oh, I went back to my job... and I got fired. Now answer my question," she commands. Another customer who looks around Trish and I's age walks in. I talk to Trish as I serve him.

"When did you leave?" I ask as I show the customer the new shipment of violins. "What color would you like?"

"I left after he reached out to shake your hand," she answers.

"Uh, blue," the customer says. I take a blue violin off of the rack.

"Is there anything else you would like?" I ask him. He takes out a list almost as long as Dez's tab. My eyes widen at it and I turn a little towards Trish. "And Trish, we're best friends again," I say with a small sigh.

"You still want to be something more, don't you?" she asks.

"Kind of," I answer. The customer finally just hands me the list. "Would you like to give me a number to call when I get all of this together or would you like to stay here until then?" I ask the customer. He writes down a number on the end of the list. "Then we hugged for a long time and I asked him why Hannah was mad at him. She's mad because he stopped what happened yesterday. You know what I'm talking about," I tell Trish. She nods.

"Call me when you get it all together please," he says. "Oh, but I need the violin now." I lead him over to the counter and tell him the price.

"Then I asked him another question. I'll tell you when I finish serving this customer," I say. He gives me the money and I smile. "Have a nice day," I tell him as he turns to walk out. He gets to the door and turns around.

"That number can be used for alternative purposes too," he tells me with a wink. I roll my eyes as he continues out the door. I hear him yelp.

"I hope he's alright..." I say. Austin walks back in soon after.

"Ally, can I get a copy of A Billion Hits?" he asks.

"What happened out there?" I ask.

"Oh, he just tripped over my foot. No biggie," he says. Something tells me that he tripped the boy on purpose though. I point up the stairs to the practice room.

"Go on up and get one," I tell him. He nods and walks up the stairs.

"So what'd you ask him?" Trish asks me. She walks over to the counter and I turn to her. I lean in closer to her in case Austin's trying to listen from upstairs.

"I asked him if he was still a virgin," I whisper. She gasps.

"And what'd he say?" she asks.

"He said he still was but you won't believe what he said after," I say, still whispering. Austin walks back down the stairs.

"Thanks, Als," he says. He starts to leave Sonic Boom but notices that Trish and I have moved closer to each other. He walks backwards back to us.

"What'cha talkin' about?" he asks. Trish and I share a quick glance.

"Nothin'," we say simultaneously. I walk back to the cash register and open it. He gives us a weird look.

"Okay... then..." he says, stretching out 'okay.' He walks out of Sonic Boom with the copy of A Billion Hits in his hands.

"So what'd he say?" Trish asks, urging me to continue the conversation. I look down at the boy's list. I walk over to the other side of the store and pick up an acoustic guitar. I set it on the counter.

"Okay, he told me I'd be the second to know when he isn't. When I asked who'd be first, he said he would. Then I said, 'Wouldn't the other girl be the second to know though? Before me?' And guess what he answered with," I tell her. Her eyes widen in anticipation.

"What'd he answer with?" she asks.

"He just _winked_," I tell her. She gasps again.

"He _didn't_," she argues.

"He _did_," I tell her. Then I remember something. "I don't know what he meant though..."

"Isn't it obvious?" she asks. "You'd be the second to know. _You _would be the girl, Ally! You!" My eyes widen.

"What?!" I ask. "No... no... That's impossible. Don't you think it'd be Hannah though?" I look down at the boy's list again.

"Did you really just ask me that?" she asks.

"You know what? Let's just... talk about something else," I say shaking my head. I walk over to the flutes and pick up a green one and an orange one. I put them on the counter and walk over to the drumsticks. I grab a pair and put them on the counter too. Trish crosses over to me and looks down at the list.

"Why does this boy need so many instruments?" Trish asks.

"Maybe he's in a band," I suggest.

"With twenty people in it?" she asks.

"Some of the members might play more than one instrument," I say, shrugging, as I pick up a bass guitar.

"Do you want me to help you?" she asks. I shake my head.

"I've got it," I tell her. I put an electric guitar on the counter. An hour later, once we have all of the instruments, I look to the bottom of the list for the boy's number. I pick up the Sonic Boom phone and call it.

"Hello?" the boy answers.

"Hey, we've got all of your instruments ready. Come on by when you're ready for them," I say.

"Alright, thanks," he says. But he doesn't hang up though. "Hey, dude, can you go get those instruments from Sonic Boom? The girl who works there says they're ready."

"_You mean Ally? O__kay, tell her I'm on my way_," I hear another boy say.

"He's on his way. Bye," the original boy says. We hang up. How did that other boy know who I was?

"Is he on his way?" Trish asks me.

"He's sending someone over," I tell her. About ten minutes later, Austin walks through the door. "Austin, what are you doing back here?" I ask. He chuckles.

"I'm here to pick up the instruments?" he says questioningly. "Duh." Oh, that explains why he knew my name... He hands me the money when I tell him how much it all costs.

"Why do you need all of these instruments?" I ask as he picks up the smaller instruments first.

"Me, Blake, Dez, and Hannah are gonna make instrument dominoes," he explains. Blake must be the boy who came in. I grab his arm before he can walk away with a portion of the instruments.

"Are you crazy?! Some of these instruments are very fragile!" I exclaim. He pretends like he's about to drop them all and I flinch. "That's not funny!"

"Oh, it's hilarious," he tells me, walking out before I can grab him again.

"Trish, help me but these back before he comes back to get these," I say. He walks back in before I can pick up one of the instruments though. I sigh. "Why didn't you just get these while you were here earlier?" I ask.

"Because one: I knew you wouldn't let me get the instruments; and two: I didn't have any money," he tells me, picking up the two guitars and walking away with them. He's back before you could say "pickles." He smiles at me.

"You know you wanna come and watch," he says, picking up a few more instruments. I think about it while he walks out of the store. He walks back in for the last of the instruments.

"Who'd you say was gonna be there?" I ask.

"Blake, Dez, and Hannah," he tells me.

"Hannah," I mutter, rolling my eyes. "No, thanks. I'll skip this one."

"Ally, Hannah isn't going to do anything," he promises me.

"She better not of I'll sic Trish on her," I mumble.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," he says.

"Sure," I say sarcastically. I close the store up early and Austin drives us to Blake's house. Austin rings the doorbell about ten times in three seconds.

"Dude, stop! My mom will wake up!" Blake snaps when he opens the door. Austin smirks and Dez comes out to help the two carry the instruments inside. Dez brings the tuba in and doesn't come back out to help with the rest. Austin and Blake have to bring the rest by themselves.

Trish and I stay outside, out of the way, while they bring in and set up the instruments. They won't let us inside actually. They want the whole thing to be a surprise. A part of me wonders where Hannah is at and a part of me doesn't care. Maybe they let her inside. I don't know.

When Blake comes out to tell us we can come inside, a car rolls up. Austin comes out too and sees the car.

"Bye, Ashley. See you later," I hear Hannah say as she closes the door. She walks toward Austin and sees me. "What is _she _doing here?" she asks Austin.

"Oh! Good news! Me and Ally are friends again!" he says happily.

"Austin, that isn't good news! She's just trying to steal you away from me!" Hannah exclaims.

"I'm not trying to steal anyone," I argue. She walks over to me and looks down at me. Her eyes bore into mine, making me uncomfortable, but I stand my ground.

"Please. We all know you want him. Don't try to deny it," she spits. I know my cheeks are red but I hold her stare. Dez walks out with a goofy smile on his face.

"Maybe I do want him. What are you gonna do about it?" I ask.

"Ooh, no, she didn't!" Dez exclaims. "Girrrl, you gonna take that?!" Hannah rolls up her sleeves.

"You make one move on my boyfriend, and I _will _kill you," she tells me through clenched teeth.

"Ohhh, snap!" Dez says, snapping once. "Ally, what you gonna do about that?!" I put my hands on my hips.

"I _dare _you to," I spit.

"Uh oh! Uh oh!" Dez yells. Dez screeches like a cat. "Cat fight!"

"Dez!" Austin finally exclaims. "Don't urge them on!"

"Oh, you think I won't?" Hannah asks me. What happens next is so fast, it's a blur.

Hannah reaches forward, grabs me by my hair and slaps me across the face. Twice actually. First a regular slap, then her hand comes back for a back slap. My face jerks to the left then to the right. Austin rushes forward, grabs Hannah, throws her over her shoulder and turns around. Trish takes this as an opportunity to punch Hannah in the nose. Blood immediately trickles out of it as she screams in pain. Austin turns his head a little so that we can see his face.

"Thank you," he mouths to Trish.

**Readinghottie16, aw, I'm sorry :( LittleKitten816, haha, would you rather me call you my loyal minions? Or my lovelies? Hahaha**

**OML, GUESS WHAT?! THIS CHAPTER IS... DRUMROLL PLEASE... *drumroll then cymbal crash* THIS CHAPTER IS 3532 WORDS LONG! WHOO! I WILL HOLD FOR THE APPLAUSE. I mean, it sucks that Ally had to get slapped twice but at least Trish punched Hannah :) And Austin thanked Trish for doing that since he couldn't do it himself :') Which means he would have done it if he weren't against hitting a girl. … I'm proud... aren't you? REVIEW, MY LOVELIES! :D**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	7. Chapter 7

Did he just thank Trish for punching his girlfriend? Trish smiles brightly at him as Austin carries Hannah into the house. Did that really just happen?

"Whoa," Blake says to Trish, his eyes wide. "Remind me not to get on your bad side." Trish smiles a bit sarcastically. "Anyway, come on in. This is gonna be awesome." He leads us inside.

"Don't touch my nose, you fucking idiot!" I hear Hannah scream from a door to my right.

"I'm sorry!" Austin exclaims from the same room. Blake takes us down to the basement. He leads us through the tangle of instruments and we try our best not to knock them over. Finally, we make it to the couch on the other side of the basement and sit down.

I notice the tuba Dez brought in his right next to my head. It doesn't look as if it'll be knocked over. I wonder what's going to happen with that. Blake sits down between Trish and I and puts his arm around me. I take his hand and pull his arm from around my shoulders, resting it in his own lap. Dez walks in seconds later sits down in a chair near the couch.

"Austin!" Blake calls. "Hurry it up!" Austin walks in, leading Hannah carefully through the instruments by her hand. He sits down in a chair identical to Dez's, also near the couch. Hannah gives me a dirty look and sits down in Austin's lap. Austin sighs annoyed but Hannah doesn't seem to notice. He gives me a sad smile.

"Sorry," he mouths, pointing to his cheek. He's apologizing for his girlfriend attacking my cheeks. I return his sad smile. When Hannah looks at him, he pretends to scratch his ear.

"Who's gonna start this thing if we're all sitting down?" Dez suddenly asks. A woman with brown hair and blue eyes appears at the door, yawning.

"What is with all the screaming, Blake? I'm trying to sleep up th—What is going on in here?" she asks, noticing the instruments.

"Mom!" Blake exclaims. "Perfect timing! Do me a big favor please?"

"Will you wash the car like I asked you?" she asks.

"Yes, Mom. Can you—?" Blake starts, pointing to a guitar case they didn't buy from Sonic Boom but his mom cuts him off.

"_And _will you steam clean the living room?" she asks.

"Sure, Mom, whatever. Can you—?"

"_And _will you—?"

"Mom, I'm not cleaning the whole house! Will you just push that guitar case?" he asks. She sighs and rolls her eyes. She pushes the guitar case and leaves the room. I flinch as each of the "dominoes" hit a fragile instrument. To my surprise, nothing breaks.

I'm smiling until it gets to the tuba. As the small amplifier falls onto the accordion, the tuba shoots out some kind of sticky substance... all... over... me... I stand up immediately. I wipe it out of my eyes but my right eye continues to sting.

"What. Is. This?" I ask disgusted. I notice Hannah is laughing really hard at this.

"It's pudding!" Dez exclaims happily. Dez runs out of the basement as Trish runs after him. I wonder why she's chasing him. I try to open my eye but it stings too much.

"Ow, ow, ow," I murmur as I run out of the room.

"Ally, wait!" someone exclaims. I run into the room Austin and Hannah were in. I open my left eye. Luckily, it's the bathroom which is what I thought it was. I close the door behind me but it soon opens. Austin walks in and closes it again. I close the lid of the toilet and sit down on it.

"Are you alright?" he asks, taking my head in his hands and tipping it upwards so he can look at it. I exhale.

"Yeah, I guess. My eye hurts. Really bad. I officially hate pudding now," I tell him with a small laugh. He eases my eye open slowly and gently with his thumb. "Ow, ow, ow," I say again as air hits my open eye. He lets it slide close.

"It's really red," he tells me. He hands me a towel and I clear the rest of my head of pudding. Then I start on my shoulders. Austin grabs a wash cloth and runs cold water on it. He kneels down in front of me, holds it to my eye and the water slowly seeps in through my eyelid.

"Thanks," I mumble. He smiles.

"Anytime," he says, removing the wash cloth from my eye. I slowly try opening it. It still stings a little but not as bad. It's that kind of sting where you've been staring at something for a long time and you finally blink. I keep blinking until my intraocular fluid fills my eye and gets absorbed. Austin looks at my eyes.

"They're still a little red but they're better than they were before," he tells me, still staring into my eyes. Suddenly, we're both leaning in towards each other. His eyes close and so do mine. I feel our noses brush and... and... I hear the door open. Our eyes snap open and our heads toward the door. It's only Dez. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, sorry about the pudding explosion. Are your eyes okay?" he asks. I glance at Austin and stand up.

"Yeah, they're fine," I say quietly, leaving the room. Dez follows me. I walk to the door of the basement. "T-Trish, we need to go. Wait, where's Trish?" I ask. I look around and she comes up behind me. "Okay, Trish, we need to go. Blake, Dez, I have to admit it: this was pretty amazing. I'll see you guys later. Hannah, you're a bitch." That wasn't necessary but I walk out feeling awesome for saying it nonetheless. Trish follows me down the hallway.

"Why are we leaving so soon?" she asks.

"Austin and I almost kissed," I whisper as we walk down the hall.

"Ally!" Austin says, running up to me. I swallow and face him. "Ally, I'm _really _sorry. I don't know what cam over me. I just... I don't know..."

"It's fine, Austin. Whatever. Water under the bridge. Let's go, Trish," I say, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hall. I hear about five pairs of footsteps behind me, including Trish's.

We walk outside the door and I let go of Trish's hand. Immediately, someone grabs my hair and I spin around. I already know who it is. It's obvious.

"Dez told me what almost happened in the bathroom," Hannah spits. My hands don't ask me to do what they do next: I rip the bandage from her nose and she screams in pain. I turn her around and push her into the side of the house, making sure her face hits it first. I hear her nose crack.

I'm not sure if I broke it more or snapped the bone back into place. It doesn't matter as long as she's hurting. I turn her back around and slap her. She deserves it. She's slapped me... three times now? Somewhere around that number.

"Ow!" she exclaims.

"Yeah. Hurts, doesn't it?" I ask her through clenched teeth as I keep her held up against the side of the house as she holds her nose with one hand and cups her cheek with the other. Arms encircle my waist as I bring my fist back to punch her. "Hey! Put me down!" I shout. I kick, trying to get out of the person's grasp. "Oh, lemme at her! I can do much worse than that!"

I pull my foot back and I'm dropped as soon as my heel makes contact with something. I run forward toward Hannah and she's smart enough to move... but I'm smarter and I follow her. She turns around quickly and I take this as an opportunity to jump on her. We both fall to the ground. I punch her face twice. She's crying now.

"Ally, I think that's enough," Trish says.

"No, Trish! She deserves to hurt!" I scream, still punching her.

"Ow!" Hannah whines, her cheeks becoming very red from my punches.

"ALLY!" Austin and Trish shout together. I hear another crack from Hannah's face as Austin and Trish drag me off of her. Tears roll down my face as I realize what I've just done. I think I broke her jawbone. I'm not sure. But I don't apologize like I expect myself to. My mouth just stay closed as I try to get out of Austin and Trish's grasps. Finally, I just relax and let Austin pick me up, bridal-style. He carries me back to Sonic Boom. He sets me down on the counter and, to my surprise, he has a bright smile on his face.

"Ally, that was awesome!" he exclaims.

"Wasn't that your girlfriend's jaw I just broke?" I ask.

"Oh... Yeah, there's, uh... there's that too. I can't believe you did that," he says.

"And it's all your fault," I tell him.

"_My _fault?" he asks. "If anyone's, it was Hannah's because she's always such a bitch to you."

"Well, you tried to kiss me," I snap.

"Yeah, 'cause _I _was the _only one _who was leaning in," he remarks. I swallow.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I shouldn't have leaned in. If I hadn't, we wouldn't be in the position we're in right now. I wouldn't be in trouble with Hannah, because I know she'll get me for this later. Hannah's jaw wouldn't be broken, though I'm not sure it really is. And everyone would be happy. Perfectly happy," I say. I sigh. "Perfectly... happy..." I whisper. I look down at the floor. Austin leans down to catch my eye.

"Ally, it was partly kinda sorta maybe my fault too," he says. Then he notices my expression. "Okay, it was both of our faults. It was equal. Half and half..." He swallows. "And I'm sorry." I let out a small chuckle through my tears and look up. He walks up the stairs quickly and walks back down with a bottle of water. He hands it to me and sits beside me on the counter.

"You're sorry... for almost kissing me?" I ask, sniffling and wiping my tears. I take a sip of water. "That's any rabid, Austin Moon fan's dream come true."

"Oh, so you consider yourself a rabid, Austin Moon fan, huh?" he asks with a smirk. I push his shoulder.

"Ah, shut up," I snap playfully. We share a smile but it's quickly interrupted by someone walking in the doors of Sonic Boom. Austin takes my water bottle and begins to drink it.

"Keep your distance from her. I broke your nose once and I can snap your neck," Trish says angrily. "Oh. Sorry, Dez. I thought you were Hannah."

"It's fine," he says. He walks past her and up to me. He raises his hand for a high five. "Ally, that was sweet! Awesome sauce!" I give him a high five and smile. "Girrrl, you took dat skank down!" I giggle. "She deserved everything you did to her for cheating on Austin! You were all like, 'Pow! Pow, pow! Kaboom! Shoo! Kapow!" he exclaims, punching the air. Austin jumps off the counter immediately, some water splashing onto the floor.

"Wait, Dez, say that again," he demands.

"Okay. I'll slow it down for you," Dez says. He punches the air in slow motion and speaks in a deeper voice. "She... was... all... like... 'Pow...! Pow... pow...! Kaboom...! Sh—!"

"No, Dez, _before _that," Austin says, getting annoyed. Dez looks up, trying to remember what he said.

"Girrrl, you took dat skank down!" he exclaims again.

"_After _that!" Austin yells.

"Um... Oh! She deserved everything you did to her for cheating on Austin?" he says questioningly.

"'Cheating on Austin'?!" Austin repeats. "No." He shakes his head. "No... With who?"

"Blake," Dez answers simply.

"What? No. No. What makes you think that? I think I would have noticed if my girlfriend was looking at another guy a certain way," he says, shaking his head, not believing it one bit. He casually takes a sip of water.

"Well, _I _noticed when she was looking down his throat with her tongue," Dez says. Austin promptly chokes on the water and he coughs several times.

"When did this happen?" he asks. I take the water he got for me back from him and bring it to my mouth, not caring about his disgusting germs right now. I'm enjoying this way too much.

"When _you _were about to look down _Ally's _throat with _your _tongue," Dez says, smiling his usual goofy smile. Now it's my turn to choke on the water. It wasn't all the way down my throat so I spit it all out onto the floor.

"Um..." I say loudly, wiping my mouth.

"Okay. I know you guys don't like Hannah but you don't have to tell em that she's cheating on me to get me to break up with her," Austin says angrily. His anger was mostly directed at Dez though. He storms out of Sonic Boom. Dez frowns and looks around at Trish and I.

"You-you guys believe me... r-right?" he asks sadly, tears forming in his eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him and, surprisingly, Trish does too.

"Of course we do, Dez. All we need to do is get some proof," Trish says. "And that'll be really easy for a girl as mischievous as me." Trish takes on an evil look. She laughs manically.

"Trish, that isn't necessary..." I say slowly.

"I just wanted to try it," she says, sticking her tongue out at me. Then she glances at her hand on Dez's shoulder. "Ew! Am I comforting Dez?! Gross!" She takes her hand off of his shoulder and wipes it on her shirt as if it had germs. "Well, I'll see you two later. I have a job to go get fired from." She walks out of the door.

"So was Hannah really kissing Blake?" I ask. "I mean, I believe you. I just want to make sure. Because you're a really good liar so I want to make sure you're telling the truth and I'm overexplaining this..."

"Yeah, I walked back down the stairs to tell Hannah you and Austin almost kissed because you and me and Trish _all _want them to break up. She was in Blake's lap, the way she was in Austin's, and they were kissing in a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really—"

"Dez!" I exclaim, getting tired of his monotonous tone.

"—Really, really disgusting way," he finally finishes.

"Oh. Yeah, we need to get that proof. And soon. Hey, why was Trish chasing you?" I ask.

"She was mad at me for hurting you. That reminds me. Does your eye feel better?" he asks. I nod.

"Yeah, it's better," I say. I sniff my shirt. "I smell like pudding though." We both laugh. I jump down from the counter, walk behind it and bend down to get the bowl of guitar picks so I can open the store back up. I hear footsteps and I freeze. What if it's Hannah? What am I talking about? I can take that skank!

"I knew you'd be here. You'd have to apologize to that little weakling for hurting her eye," Hannah snaps at Dez. "Was Austin here?" Dez's response is silent. "He was? You didn't tell him about what you saw, _did you?"_

"Psht. What? No. I would never. And even if I did, he wouldn't believe me since he knows we all hate you," Dez says, sounding nonchalant.

"And you _won't _tell him, right?" she asks.

"Right!" Dez exclaims happily.

"Good. If you do, you'll regret it," she snaps through clenched teeth. "Hey. Where's the bitch?"

"Who?" Dez asks.

"Ally," Hannah answers, annoyed.

"Oh, I don't know. She could be anywhere. Ally! Ally! Not here obviously. Bye," Dez says quickly. I hear the _click, clack_ of her heels leaving. "Ally... I'm in trouble..." Dez says quietly.

**OOH, HANNAH. GO DIE IN A HOLE. RIGHT NOW. Don't hurt Austin like that :( If you're gonna hurt him at all, hurt him physically. At least that'll heal. You can't fix a broken heart. Well, you can fix Austin's broken heart with Ally but that's just an exception... Anyway, review, my lovely loyal minions! (Haha, LittleKitten816, ;) ;) )**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	8. Chapter 8

"No, Dez, you'll be fine," I promise him, coming up from behind the counter.

"But we both know Austin will go to Hannah and say that I 'lied' to him and told him that Hannah was cheating on him!" Dez exclaims worriedly, putting air quotes around the word "lied." He whimpers. "Ally, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!" he repeats over and over. I grab his shirt and bring him down to my level so I can look him in the eye.

"Dez, get a grip! You'll be fine! Just wait until Trish—"

"Why are you talking about me? What did I do?" Trish asks, walking back in. "And what are you doing?" I let go of Dez's shirt.

"Nothing. Do you have a plan?" I ask her. Her eyes light up again the same way they did yesterday.

"I have a plan... But we have to do _exactly _what I say," she says. I nod in understanding. "Okay. First, you need to—"

"Wait a second. Anything but a blowtorch," I cut her off. She sticks her tongue out at me.

"Fine. We'll have to go with my other plan. Okay, so Dez, you invite Blake and Hannah over, telling them that Austin wants to hang out. Then, when they get to your house, make sure you have your camera set up to record them. When they ask you where Austin is at, tell them that you'll give him a call to see what's taking him. Then just leave the room and pretend to call Austin. If you set it up, we can also watch what they're doing from here. It's foolproof!" Trish exclaims. I run her plan through my mind, looking for any problems.

"There's one vital flaw. What if Austin really wants to hang out with Hannah?" I ask.

"You just have to ask him if he wants to hang out with _you_. Duh," she says.

"What if he doesn't want to hang out with me?" I ask.

"Who wouldn't want to?" she asks. I narrow my eyes at her. She rolls her own eyes. "Alright, fine since you believe someone wouldn't want to go out with you. Uh... tell him... ooh! Tell him you need to work on a new song!" I smile but it quickly fades away.

"What if Hannah calls him or texts him or—?" I start but Trish cuts me off.

"Hold on," she says, taking out her phone. She talks in a sweet tone at first. "Hey, Austin, could you pretty please come to Sonic Boom for just a second?" There's a pause and her face gets dark. "Austin Monica Moon, get your butt over here right now! We need to talk about some stuff! If you don't come, I will stop being your manager! Imagine trying to get yourself a gig then! Get. Over. Here!" She hangs up the phone and smiles like a little angel.

"What—?" Dez starts to ask but Trish holds up a finger to silence him.

"Six... five... four... three... two... one," she says and Austin runs through the door, completely out of breath. "Hello. Give me your phone."

"What? Why?" he asks.

"I need to program your schedule for the week into your calendar," she answers. He glances at Dez for a second, obviously thinking of what he said earlier. He hesitantly hands her his iPhone. She looks down at him and hands it back. "Unlock it," she demands. He types in his pass code and gives it back to her. She turns it over in her hands.

"Ooh, this is a nice case. What kind is it?" she asks.

"It's... um... it's a Life Proof case..." he says slowly. Trish takes the bright pink case off of his phone and sets his phone on the counter. I look down at it at his home screen wallpaper. It's a picture of Austin and Hannah making out. Disgusting. I casually turn his phone over, putting it face down. Trish examines his case.

"I thought you were going to program my calendar into my phone," Austin says, confused.

"Hold on, hold on," Trish says, apparently very fascinated by his phone case. After another minute or two, she picks up her phone to put the case back on. She drops his phone to the floor and it shatters.

"My phone!" Austin exclaims, dropping to his knees to gather up the remains. He gets a piece of glass stuck in his finger. "Ow!" he yells. He stands up. He brings his finger to his mouth to get rid of some of the blood that's trickled slowly from his finger.

"Don't do that," I warn him.

"What? Why not?" he asks, stopping his finger in mid-air and looking up at me.

"Would you like to have glass in your tongue?" I ask him, moving out from behind the counter. He lowers his hand.

"No," he answers. I lean down to get the emergency kit from under the counter, rolling my eyes as I go. I set it on the counter top and open it. I rummage around in it until I finally find what I'm looking for: tweezers. I walk over to Austin, grab his hand, and bring it close to my face.

"Seems like we're all getting hurt today, huh?" I ask as I begin to dig through Austin's finger for the piece of glass. He shifts uncomfortably every time I move the tweezers around.

"Yeah..." he says quietly. Finally, something hard hits the tweezers and I push the ends together, grabbing it. I pull the piece of glass out and put it on the counter. I finish with his finger and walk to the back room to get a broom and a dust pan. I walk back out. I clean up the mess and throw away the glass into a trash can, along with Austin's phone. See, I realized Trish's plan when she "accidentally" dropped Austin's phone.

"Austin, I'm sorry. It looks like you won't be able to... _call _or _text _anybody for a few days," Trish says.

"I guess not," he says sadly. "Thanks for fixing my finger, Ally." I nod.

"Well, I guess I'll go beg my mom for a new phone," Austin says, turning to leave. Trish nudges me and I remember my part of the plan.

"Wait, Austin!" I call. He turns. "Uh, do you want to... help me with a song tomorrow?" I ask, trying to put as much hope as I can in my tone.

"Sure," he says with a small smile. He turns around.

"Wait!" Dez calls. Austin turns around again.

"Yes, Dez?" he asks.

"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for lying to you," Dez tells him. Austin's smile gets a bit brighter.

"Ah, I can't stay mad at you," he says, walking over to Dez and giving him a quick bro hug.

They do their little handshake and exclaim, "What up!" in a kind of high-pitched voice. I giggle. Austin turns again to leave but turns back.

"Trish..." he says, "is there anything _you _have to say?" He chuckles. Trish looks up, pretending to be deep in thought.

"Hm... nope," she says. Austin finally leaves. "Phase one complete. Commence phase two," she says, smiling evilly.

"What's phase two?" I ask. The smile falls from her face.

"Phase two is waiting until tomorrow," she grumbles. "But phase three will be inviting Blake and Hannah over to Dez's house." The smile returns as she probably thinks of the outcome of her plan. Her phone rings and she takes it out to answer it. "Uh huh... uh huh... uh huh. Be right over."

"Who was that?" I ask.

"My boss," she answers.

"I thought you got fired," I reply.

"Ooh, you're right. I meant my ex-boss," she tells me. "He wants me to return the earrings I bought with my employee discount or pay for them so... I guess I'll see you two later." And with that, she runs out the door. A thought crosses my mind.

"Hey, Dez... what did Hannah's face look like?" I ask.

"It was really, really red and there was some dried blood that came from her nose. And it looked like she'd just stopped crying. Like, it was really wet and stuff. And all her makeup was running. Ally, it was priceless, I tell you. Priceless," he says, beginning to laugh at the memory.

"Oh, I would have _killed _to see it," I say, trying to imagine it. I shake my head, smiling. "So, you know what you have to do tomorrow, right?" I ask him. He nods. "And if Hannah does anything to hurt you, verbally or physically, call me and I'll... I'll come beat her up. And then I'll call Trish to come help me finish her off." He nods, smiling.

"Aw, you're like the big sister I never had," he tells me, smiling and on the verge of happy tears. A few of my own well up in my eyes.

"Dez, even though you're older than me, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," I tell him, hugging him.

Ooh, I can't wait for tomorrow...

**Sorry that it's late and short tonight. I had homework in every single class except fourth (obviously since that's lunch/rec) and seventh period. And then I had projects and... yeah, you guys don't care. ANYWAY, remember to vote (by the way, we've already passed ten voters; I've just forgotten to remind you in the last few chapters) and review, my lovelies!**

**WAIT! One more thing! We've got a new addition to the wonderful world of Fanfiction . net! GUESS THEIR NAME! GUESS THEIR NAME! Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... 0NEONLIGHTS0! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO! But, in all seriousness. *puts on serious face* If you could read her story, give her feedback, favorite, follow, subscribe, whatever you wanna do, please do. It would mean a lot to 0NeonLights0 and I. I will read her story for myself later on today when I get the time. And if I don't have time... I SHALL MAKE TIME WITH MY TIME-BENDING SKILLS.**

**Do you know what would be super awks...? If 0NeonLights0 was a boy... I've been calling them a boy... O.o Anyway, review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	9. Chapter 9

"Ally!" someone calls from downstairs. I sit up. I must have fallen asleep on the practice room couch last night. I stand up and stretch, hearing all of my bones crack. I cringe at the feeling. I walk toward the stairs slowly before I realize something...

This person is inside Sonic Boom... which means they walked through the door. The door I most likely left unlocked! I inch closer to the door, quiet as a mouse. I open it a crack and look out. I see Austin down there, sitting on the counter, waiting for me. I open the door all the way and stumble down the stairs sleepily.

"Did I lock that door?" is the first thing out my mouth when I get to him.

"Yeah, you did. I used the key you and your dad gave me," he tells me.

"We never gave you a key..." I say.

"Yes, you did. Don't you remember that day you asked me to lock up for you when we up late one night, writing a song?" he asks. I rack my brain and finally find the memory.

"Vaguely," I answer.

"Yeah, well you never asked for the key back so I kept it," he says. "And now that you know I have it, you want me to give it back. Right?" I shake my head.

"No, keep it," I tell him. "I might need you to lock up or open up for me again one day." I think about the things he could've done with that key. He could have come out here with Hannah or...

I jump up onto the counter and sit beside him, looking out the open doors of Sonic Boom. It's really dark outside.

"What time is it?" I ask him.

"About five," he tells me.

"Five?" I ask. "In the morning?" He nods.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep so..." he trails off.

"Well, I'm going back to sleep. Wake me at twelve o'clock," I instruct him. He nods in understanding and I slide off the counter.

"Ally, wait!" he suddenly exclaims. I turn a little and raise my eyebrows. "You didn't want to write a new song today, did you?" he asks. "You have something you want to talk with me about." Again, he knows me way too well.

I just nod, telling him he's correct. At first, it _was _just a part of the plan. But now, I realize that he knew what I wanted to do before I even knew myself. I turn back around and continue up the stairs. I drift back off to sleep when I lie back down on the couch. Austin wakes me at twelve o'clock on the dot. I lift my head wearily.

"What?" I groan, trying to roll back over and sink into the couch. He stops me and picks me up, spinning me once. Then he sets me down.

"You told me to wake you up at twelve o'clock," he reminds me, grinning a little.

"I did, didn't I?" I mutter. He smirks. We sit down on the couch and I wonder how exactly to start the conversation. "So... Austin..." I finally get out. Great way to start the conversation.

"Ally, I already know what you want to talk about so let's just get it over with," he tells me. Oh, good. Because I had _no _idea where I was going with this...

"Oh, yeah? And what do you think it is?" I ask him.

"You want to talk about Hannah and a bunch of different things, right?" he asks. I look around.

"Correct," I say, forcing my eyes to focus on his chocolate brown ones. Once I find myself lost in them, I try focusing on his lips. The lips that you just want to kiss over and over again... Try again, Ally. My eyes slide up to his nose. It's kind of big. Very unflattering. So I just look down at my hands as I twiddle my thumbs. He lies back and puts his hands behind his head.

"Alright," he says, "lay it on me." He chuckles to himself. I sigh.

"Well, I—" I start but someone calls my name again from downstairs. "Be right back." I run down the stairs and see Trish standing there with her small, opened laptop in her hands.

"We're connected," she says, smiling. I cross over to her as she sets her laptop on the counter. I look at the screen and see... nothing. It's just a black screen. Trish sighs frustratedly. "Dez, move your butt!" she exclaims. We wait for him to move and after a few minutes, he does. We see Blake and Hannah stretched out on Dez's bed.

"I'll go call Austin and see what's taking him so long to get here," Dez says.

"Dez is here?" Austin asks, walking down the stairs.

"No!" Trish yells. "I mean, um... Ally, you wanna take this one?"

"Uh, Dez _was _here. You just missed him," I lie, considerably well. Austin starts walking toward the door and Trish casually moves her laptop to where it's facing the opposite side of Sonic Boom. "Uh, did we say Dez? I meant... um... my dad!" I exclaim. Austin stops walking and pushes his eyebrows together in confusion.

"You just said—" he starts but I cut him off.

"I know, I know. Who knows what I was talking about?" I ask with a slight chuckle. "Trish, use your headphones so me and Austin can talk without hearing random things from your laptop." I wink at her and she understands what I mean. "Just tell me if anything... interesting happens..." She nods and takes her ear buds out of her pocket. She puts one bud in her ear and the other end into her laptop. Austin and I sit on the part of the counter opposite the other one and Trish turns her computer around so that we can't see the screen.

"So, you were saying..." Austin urges me on. I open my mouth but close it quickly. How do I start this?

"I... I... I'm getting... tired..." I finally manage.

"But you just woke up," he tells me.

"No, I mean tired... of this," I specify. He swallows.

"Wh-what?" he asks, dumbfounded.

"It's just... this roller coaster we're on. We have our ups and downs but these rides have to end sometime, right?" I ask. "Hannah started the ride and I'm ready to get off. You can stay on there with Hannah if you'd like but... our friendship... it just isn't working out."

"This is just because you're jealous of Hannah, isn't it?" he asks, without a trace of _anything _in his tone. I look at his face but it has no emotion on it.

"Jealous," I scoff, "sure. Why would I be jealous when she just took what was mine? She drove us apart. We'd probably still be together if it wasn't for her! When you met her, that's when our fights started."

"No, they started..." he trails off because he knows I'm right, probably.

"I don't give a fuck if you sat around your house for a while because you 'felt bad about our breakup'! I don't believe that one bit!" I think it's the first time our actual breakup has been mentioned since it happened.

"None of that was Hannah's fault! It was yours! All yours!" he shouts at me. He calms down a little. No. No. God, please don't do this to me. He only calms down when he's ready for the fight to be over permanently. It wasn't permanent last time but it just might be this time. He jumps down from the counter.

"Ally! Ally! Ally!" Trish exclaims. I ignore her.

"You know what? This ride is officially over. Are you happy now? Take a good look at me. Because I'm never coming back to this amusement park ever again," he tells me.

"Ally!" Trish screams. Austin walks out the door and I follow him to the door. But that's where I stop. I turn to Trish.

"What, Trish?" I ask sadly. She points to her screen.

"Look!" she yells. I turn my attention to it. Blake is lying down on Dez's bed and Hannah is on top of him, kissing him like there's no tomorrow. Dez is nowhere to be found. I feel my eyes light up. Trish grabs her laptop and runs out the doors of Sonic Boom. "Austin!" she screams. He disappears into a crowd of people. "Come on," she tells me.

We take off running through the mall, trying to catch up with him, screaming, "Austin!" from time to time. Suddenly, he's gone. We can't find him. Tears flow down my cheeks. This is it. I've lost Austin forever to... to... _Hannah freaking Jordan_. Trish sighs and leads me back to Sonic Boom.

"I guess that's it," I whisper, mostly to myself. I walk behind the counter and lie down on the floor, curling up into a ball.

"I'm sorry," Trish says, dropping to her knees and putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I-if... only... he'd... j-just... b-b-believed... m-me..." I choke out through sobs. She cries silently as she watches her best friend cry. That's the only thing I hate about true best friends. They cry, you cry. You can't even help it. She sighs through her tears but it comes out a bit ragged.

"Ally, you can't just stay back here. You have to get up, move around," she says, trying to bring me to my feet. I don't budge though.

"Just leave me alone to die," I mumble. She looks as if she's going to object, force me to move, but she doesn't. She just walks up the stairs to the practice room. About a minute later, she comes back down with a blanket. She drapes it over me and sits on the counter, facing inward. She sings me a Latino lullaby that I know as Arroz Con Leche and I slowly fall asleep. I'm not sure if it was Trish's soft singing or if it was my crying. I have a dream of a flashback. It was the day Trish was teaching me the English version of this song. It also just so happened to be Austin and I's two-month anniversary...

_(Italics=Dream/Flashback; **Bold+Italics=Song Lyrics)**_

"_In English, it's called Rice Pudding. My dad used to sing it to me when I was little," she explained to me._

"_Rice Pudding?" I asked with a small giggle. She smiled._

_**Rice Pudding**_

_**I want to get married**_

_**To a lady**_

_**Who knows how to dance**_

_**Who knows how to sew**_

_**Who knows how to iron**_

_**Who knows how to open the door**_

_**To go out and play**_

"_It seems longer in Spanish," I pointed out. She'd sung it to me before but it had been in Spanish; not English. She just shrugged._

"_Sing it back to me," she commanded._

_**Rice pudding**_

_**I want to get married**_

_**To a lady**_

_**Who knows how to dance**_

_**Who knows how to sew**_

_**Who knows how to iron**_

_**Who knows how to open the door**_

_**To go out and play**_

_She clapped when I finished and said, "Good job." I smiled. "Do you want me to teach you the other version?" she asked._

"_Is it in Spanish?" I asked._

"_Usually, it is but I can teach it to you in English if you want me to," she told me._

_**Rice pudding**_

_**I want to get married**_

_**To a little widow**_

_**From the capital**_

_**Who knows how to sew**_

_**Who knows how to embroider**_

_**Who puts the table**_

_**In its holy place**_

_**I am the widow**_

_**The King's daughter**_

_**I want to get married**_

_**And I don't know with who**_

_For some reason, I liked that version better. I don't know why; it just kind of stuck out to me. I didn't even understand the lyrics, to be perfectly honest. I remembered once that she told me that the pace she was singing it, wasn't the real pace. She told me that it was a bit faster but her dad slowed it down for her to make it a bit more soothing. Suddenly, Austin bursted into the practice room and his eyes landed on me._

"_Ally, I need you," he told me. I looked at Trish. I gave her a quick hug._

"_Thanks for teaching me the song," I said. She returned my smile._

"_Anytime," she said. "If you ever want me to teach you another one, just ask." I smiled brightly and let Austin lead me out of the practice room. As soon as he shut the door, he picked me up and kissed me, walking down the stairs as he did. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back._

_I ran my fingers through his hair as the kiss progressed. He carried me out of Sonic Boom and toward his house, opening his eyes every once in a while to make sure he was going the right way. When we finally got to his house, he opened the door. He set me down and we walked inside._

"_Hey, Mom," he said as we passed her. Once we were up the stairs, he picked me back up, continuing our kiss, and carried me into his room. He shut his door behind us. He sat down on his bed but against his wall, still kissing me all the while. Finally, his hands dropped down from my waist and they rested on my thighs. We stopped kissing so we could catch our breath. He smiled at me. "Guess what?" he asked. I smiled._

"_What?" I asked. He moved me off of him and reached under his pillow. He pulled out a kind of long, silver box. He handed it to me._

"_Happy two-month anniversary," he whispered in my ear, pulling me back into his lap. I stared down at it. "Aren't you going to open it?" he asked._

"_No. I didn't get you anything so I would feel bad, knowing I didn't get you anything," I explained. He shook his head._

"_Ally, you already got me something. Well, actually, your mother got me something and it counts as being from you too," he told me. I pushed my eyebrows together in confusion. "She brought the love of my life into this world." He kissed me gently. I looked down at the box once more and slowly removed the top._

"_Oh, my God, Austin," I said. "This is beautiful." I picked up the silver locket. I opened the locket and inside was a picture of Austin and I. It was one of the pictures we'd taken at The Helen Show; just after we'd finished Break Down The Walls and just before the show._

"_I bet it'll look even better on you," he said sweetly. I turned around and sat with my back to him as he fastened the necklace onto my neck. After he did, I turned back around._

"_Thank you," I whispered. I leaned in to kiss him again and..._

… I wake up. I still have that necklace. It's in my side table drawer. Trish is asleep on the counter above me. I don't know what time it is and I'm still not in the mood to get up. The sun doesn't seem to be shining in anymore so it must be either late afternoon or nighttime. Let's just hope Trish locked up the store. It doesn't really matter though, I guess. So I just roll back over and pull the blanket up to my chin. That day was both the best day ever and the worst day.

It was the best because of two reasons; one: Trish taught me something! I mean she actually put effort into something and taught me the song! And two: Austin was so sweet on that day that I was afraid he'd broken another instrument at Sonic Boom or something. But he hadn't. So it was just real kindness.

It was the worst because of one reason: The mere memory of it now kills me.

**Sorry it's late tonight. Homework, projects/essays, chores. Review!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


	10. Chapter 10

**Austin's POV:**

I open the door with my key and slip silently inside, hoping Ally isn't here. And she isn't. Well, I guess she could be in the back room. I walk past the counter and up to the practice room. I sit down at the piano, stretch my fingers over the keys, and play.

_Shoulda been a'runnin'..._

_A long, long time ago..._

_I should've seen it comin'_

_Oh, what happened?_

_I don't know..._

_This girl was all off track_

_Ripped my heart right out from me_

_While I'm layin' on my back_

_And the poison came to me_

_All your lies_

_With blackened skies_

_No way out_

_When you kill them with your eyes_

_She stole my heart_

_Ripped it apart_

_She left me stranded_

_Out in the dark_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_She's runnin' 'round_

_All through the town_

_She's breakin' hearts_

_And tearin' down_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_Now I gotta keep away from this girl_

_She's like an addiction_

_The way she moves is so killing_

_They fall for her affection_

_And she bites with such a sting_

_Once she sinks her teeth in_

_You'll have no time to escape_

_Once her venom kicks in_

_Then you're trapped_

_No other way_

_All your lies_

_With blackened skies_

_No way out_

_When you kill them with your eyes_

_She stole my heart_

_Ripped it apart_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_She left me stranded out in the dark_

_She bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_She's runnin' 'round_

_All through the town_

_She's breakin' hearts and tearin' down_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_Now I gotta keep away from this girl_

_You..._

_Broke..._

_Me..._

_Down..._

_While I was leaning_

_Away..._

_Away..._

_You..._

_Still..._

_Run..._

_Around..._

_Playin' your games_

_Your games_

_Your games_

_Your games..._

_She's runnin' around_

_All through the town_

_She's breakin' hearts_

_And tearin' down_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_She stole my heart_

_Ripped it apart_

_She left me stranded out in the dark_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_She's runnin' 'round_

_All through the town_

_She's breakin' hearts_

_And tearin' down_

_She's bad_

_Whoa, oh, oh_

_And I was too, too foolish_

_Now I gotta keep away from this girl_

_Gotta keep away from this girl_

_Now I gotta keep away from this girl!_

**Ally's POV:**

I decide to finally get up. Trish is gone and the door is unlocked. Well, hopefully, Trish didn't get teenager-napped. She probably didn't. She can defend herself. I walk up the stairs toward the practice room and hear music...

_Gotta keep away from this girl_

The music stops and I open the door.

"Austin, what are you doing here?" I ask wearily as I see him sitting at the piano. He stands up. "I thought you were—"

"Ally, you were right. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you and Dez when you told me Hannah was cheating on me," he tells me. "I went over to Dez's house and I saw them on his bed. She tried to tell me that it wasn't what it looked like but what else could it have been? Did he get bit on the lip by a rattlesnake?" I laugh a little at the mention of the time Austin thought I liked him. But that was when I actually didn't. I put on a poker face and stare up at him.

"Yeah, well do you think you can just come running back to me and think that I'll forgive you just because you apologized?" I ask. I wag my finger in his face as I say, "No, no, Mr. Moon. It'll take a lot more than that. If you thought that your apology was enough then you—" He cuts me off by kissing me.

"Ally, I love you," he tells me, smiling when he finally pulls away.

"—were absolutely correct," I finish, breathless and dumbfounded. His smile slowly fades away.

"So, what do you say?" he asks, taking my hands in both of his. "Do you forgive me? I swear that if I ever hurt you again, you can break my nose, my arms, my ribs, my legs, anything you want to. But I'll never break your heart. Not again. We saw what happened the last time I did that. It was the biggest mistake of my life. And I'm really, really... sorry."

I can tell by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that he really meant it this time. He _really _meant it. I just blink and stare at him. His face grows worried.

"S-so you don't..." he trails off. I blink again, not sure of what to say. I open my mouth to say something but I'm not sure what it is.

"Uh..." I finally get out. Very intelligent, Ally. He swallows and begins tugging at his shirt collar as if it were getting hot in the cold practice room. He sighs, lets his hands drop to his sides, and looks down.

"I get it," he says. "You finally understand that the dumb, idiotic things I've done are unforgivable. It's fine. I guess I'll see you around sometime." He walks to the door and walks down the stairs. I'm frozen to the spot.

_Ally, what's wrong with you?! Your lover is walking away and you're just going to let him?! Go! Now!_

My legs carry me to the top of the stairs and I see Austin putting his hand on the door so he can open it in leave. I say the first thing that pops into my head.

"What was that song you were playing?" I blurt out. Smooth. He freezes, his hand beginning to push the door open. He turns around slowly and smiles.

"Keep Away From This Girl," he tells me. I point to myself questioningly and he shakes his head. "Hannah," he says. I nod in understanding.

"Can I hear the rest of it?" I ask. He doesn't answer. He just walks over to the grand piano and sits down. I walk down the stairs and sit down beside him. He plays me the song and I frown.

"What?" he asks. "You don't like it?" I shake my head.

"No, it's awesome," I reassure him. "I'm just mad at Hannah."

"Why? She's out of my life now. It's all over," he tells me, turning to face me. I swallow and shrug as if it's nothing. But this is Austin we're talking about. He knows me. He grabs my shoulders and twists me toward him, his eyes boring into mine. "Ally. Hannah is Hannah and you are Ally. And Ally is the only one for me. Understand?" I nod but he still doesn't believe me. He leans down and kisses me.

Not the way he kissed Hannah. The way you would kiss someone you really care about. Like, kind of like a peck on the lips but you hold onto it. You hold onto it for dear life. And when you finally pull away, you know. You know that this is the one for you. He pulls away from me.

"Now have I ever kissed Hannah like that?" he asks. I shrug.

"I don't stare at you guys while you're kissing," I joke. He smiles and shakes his head.

"I haven't," he answers for me. "So you never answered my other question." I rack my brain for any other questions he's asked today but I can't think of any.

"Wh-what was the question?" I ask. He chuckles.

"Do you forgive me?" he asks, the smile fading.

_Revive the smile, Ally. Revive the beautiful smile._

"I do," I tell him. "I forgive you."

**Sorry that I haven't updated for the last TWO DAYS. I WANTED YOU TO ANTICIPATE THE ENDING CHAPTER. I WANTED YOU TO BE PULLING YOUR HAIR OUT, WAITING TO SEE IF AUSTIN WILL FINALLY SEE THAT HANNAH WAS CHEATING ON HIM. But, no, seriously, I haven't written at all during those two days and I've been kinda stressed because of that. I just wanted to go to my room, open the laptop, open Word, and write. Just write. Nothing distracting me. Just writing. But no, I was up late ****doing homework. -_- Anyway, sorry I didn't update. And sorry that the ending chapter is so short :( Anyhoodles (you all have got me saying that EVERYWHERE to EVERYONE, haha), review, my lovelies!**

**LoVe, KeNzIe**


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